After Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) meet during at New Year's Eve party at a ski lodge, the two discover that the chemistry between them goes beyond singing a duet. However, the odds for the young romance don't seem that great - especially since they two live in different areas of the country.
Things change when Gabriella's mom is transferred to Albuquerque and Gabriella enrolls at East High, the same school where Troy is the captain of the basketball team. The two eventually meet in detention, where Troy introduces Gabriella to his best friend, Chad (Corbin Bleu), the president of the Science Club, Taylor (Monique Coleman) and the co-presidents of the Drama Club, Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) and Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale).
While Troy enjoys the fact that Gabrielle is now at East High, his friends have different reactions. Chad sees Gabrielle as a distraction to Troy's athletics, especially after she gets him tied up in the drama club, while Taylor sees Gabrielle as just the person to help East High win the scholastic decathlon. Things really heat up when Gabrielle gets the lead in the upcoming drama club production - a role that historically has gone to Sharpay. Drama and music follows.
As odd as it feels to say this, High School Musical isn't that bad of a movie. I'll readily admit that this isn't the first time I've seen it, but after watching and reviewing both High School Musical 2 and HSM3: Senior Year, I never realized just how strong the original was. There's the expected overacting and quick resolution to problems that come with nearly every Disney-produced movie, but it still works. Unlike both sequels, which try to pack in as many musical numbers as they can while placing plot and character development on the backburner, High School Musical places a tight focus on telling a story first.
High School Musical's strength is its ensemble cast, which plays a big part in its success. While there are some really talented cast members, the entire cast is needed for everything to work - a sticking point in the sequels.
High School Musical: Remix packs in a number of extras, which looks good on paper but aren't that great when viewed - at least when viewed by more casual fans. The two that will likely get the most replay are a Sing-Along with the movie feature and "Learning the Moves," where the cast goes in-depth on the dance moves used during certain numbers.
The two "behind-the-scenes" related features aren't as interesting. "Bringing it all Together" is a fluff piece that skims the details, while "A High School Musical Reunion" acts as a post-script. The first was filmed way before anyone knew how big High School Musical would become, which is the aim of the second piece. Both could be better, but are way too short to be of any real interest. Features covering the Hollywood Premiere and music videos pulled from the movie round out the extras.
It would be hard to imagine a big time High School Musical fan not owning the DVD version, but stranger things have happened. The upgrades offered by High School Musical: Remix Edition are good ones, but far from "must have" items. If you want the picture and audio upgrade (both of which are great), go for the Blu-ray release. Otherwise, you can skip it and go with HSM3: Senior Year.
